title: Method validation of a survey of thevetia cardiac glycosides in serum samples.
abstract: A sensitive and specific liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI(+)-MS/MS) procedure was developed and validated for the identification and quantification of thevetin B and further cardiac glycosides in human serum. The seeds of Yellow Oleander (Thevetia peruviana) contain cardiac glycosides that can cause serious intoxication. A mixture of six thevetia glycosides was extracted from these seeds and characterized. Thevetin B, isolated and efficiently purified from that mixture, is the main component and can be used as evidence. Solid phase extraction (SPE) proved to be an effective sample preparation method. Digoxin-d3 was used as the internal standard. Although ion suppression occurs, the limit of detection (LOD) is 0.27 ng/ml serum for thevetin B. Recovery is higher than 94%, and accuracy and precision were proficient. Method refinement was carried out with regard to developing a general screening method for cardiac glycosides. The assay is linear over the range of 0.5-8 ng/ml serum. Finally, the method was applied to a case of thevetia seed ingestion.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11, D-26129 Oldenburg, Germany. sarah.kohls@uni-oldenburg.de
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kohls
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scholz-Böttcher
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rullkötter
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teske
mesh_terms: D002298:Cardenolides / Q000097:blood*; D002301:Cardiac Glycosides / Q000097:blood*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D031052:Thevetia; D014839:Vomiting
chemical_list: D002298:Cardenolides; D002301:Cardiac Glycosides; C077740:thevetin B